Complications
by YoungTakinom
Summary: I'm too old to start on a journey, and I'm certainly not qualified to take on Team Rocket or go to the Hoenn region with some kid, but I'm going to do it anyways. But things aren't adding up. We keep running into people who claim they know us, and to get things straightened out, we have to go all the way to the Ilex Forrest. But the war just ending isn't making things easy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

My mom was always a little over-protective when I was little, but that makes sence, considering the war. I somehow managed to block out the pain of seeing everyone my age go off on an adventure while I was stuck in school. Like most of them, my dad died during the war. We lived in Cerulian City at the time, but shortly afterwards we moved to a little place called 'Veridian', between Pallet and Pewter. She made the remark that traveling so far was enough of an adventure for a while. We didn't explore Mount Moon, instead we just passed by it. My mother said she didn't feel like exploring, and that I wasn't allowed to go in alone. I wanted a Pokemon, but we could never agree on which one I wanted.

Eventually I moved to the big city, Saffron. I worked in the mall, watching as trainers of all ages would enter and leave, always getting supplies for their journies. Occasionally I would visit the city I grew up in. The gym was always a pain to see, but I stopped by the pokemon center alot, usually to make a donation and stay over night. Trainers usually shared the 'public' rooms, which were just two bunk beds and a bathroom, but there were private rooms available for a price. They were far from five stars, but they were cheaper than a hotel and easier to find.

I felt to old for it, but I got my trainers licence at age twenty. The nurses at the centers are only trained to meet medical conditions, so I figured the best place to learn more about which Pokemon was best for me would be the Pokemon fan club in Vermilion. It was just south of where I lived, much closer than the lab in Pallet; why I never visited the lab while I was living in Veridian is beyond me.

I was smart enough to get some Pokeballs before starting my adventure, along with a couple great balls. After talking with a few people in the fan club and accidentally causing a few arguments between people over which Pokemon in the area was the best to try to capture, the only thing I had learned was that drowsey weren't very popular at the moment. Despite meeting plenty of trainers while working at the mall and visiting the pokemon center, I had never heard of a drowsey.

I decided to skip the cave next to the city and just head over to the tall grassy area on the other side of it, since pokemon that lived that cave are supposed to be ugly. It was getting dark, so I wasn't planning on staying long. Fortunately for me the walking had done a number on my legs. I sat down and leaned against a tree. Had I known I would fall asleep, I wouldn't have done that.

I found out what a drowsey is that night. I woke up to that thing feeding on me. If you don't know how a drowsey feeds, you're lucky. Being in a disgusted panic, I did the first thing that came to mind; I screamed really loud and, in an attempt to get it away from me, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a random ball. It just happened to be one of the great balls. Not the best thing to do when you want to get away from something, but at least it couldn't get to me.

My life changed forever that night. I took it to the pokemon center right away, knowing the nurse could tell me more about the strange pokemon. It was gross, but he was still mine, so I named him Nightmare and spent the night there. I took him home the next day.

I was in a contract with my landlord and coudn't leave the apartment for three more months. I saved every penny I could during those three months. I spent my off hours bonding with Nightmare and, to a lesser extent, training him. There was a pokemon daycare north of the city, so he stay there while I worked. The old man did a good job of training him while I was busy, so that put us at an advantage when we started our adventure.

I sold my furniture and donated everything else but a couple of outfits, my phone, soap, backpack, two pairs of socks, and my best traveling shoes to charity. I kept my wallet in one pocket and my pokeballs in the other, and I had a few snacks in my backpack. I heard the gym leader used psychics, so I decided that my first goal would be to defeat her.

I didn't make Nightmare stay in the ball unless I was taking him somewhere that made it absolutely necessary, which is sadly a lot of places since almost every building wants pokemon in their pokeballs. I knew most trainers made them stay in the balls when they weren't using them, but it just seems cruel.

We looked at ourselves in the mirror one last time before leaving our empty apartment. I was wearing my warm-weather outfit; a black and red pair of long shorts that almost touched my knees and a black tank top. My cold outfit was in my bag; a tight pair of black capris and a tee shirt. I had my black jacket wrapped around my waist and pair of pink leg warmers in my backpack. My long brown hair was in a bun, held up by a spin pin. Nightmare had a large blue ribbon tied around his neck; in colder weather he could use it as a scarf.

"Are you ready?" I asked as I cleaned my big blue glasses with my shirt. Nightmare nodded and began making noises. I wasn't sure what he was saying, but he sounded exited. I smiled at him and headed out the door. Nightmare followed after me, then ran down the hall as I locked up.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" my landlord asked as I handed in my keys. He looked at Nightmare as I assured him "Nightmare is coming with me, so I'll be alright. We've been training, and his caregiver has been training him. He may act young, but he's strong."

I hadn't been to Cerulian since capturing Nightmare, so I started our journey by taking him there. It didn't take long for us to run into our first battle. It was a nidoran female, and it was charging right at us. I guess it was just being territorial, but I'll never forget the fear I felt as I remembered that their horns had poisen in them. I froze. I tried to command my pokemon like any good trainer would, but my troat closed up. But as my starter jumped in front of me, I knew he was protecting me.

I guess we did alright for our first battle. The wild nidoran bit Nightmare on the nose. Nightmare shook it off started pounding on it. The nidoran kicked his hands pretty hard. Nightmare stopped and back up a bit. The nidoran ran away, but we didn't bother chasing after her. Nightmare had a few bruises on his hand, but other than that he seemed alright, so we continued our journey.

About half way to Cerulian, we ran into a pidgey. It was just looking for worms, but Nightmare charged at it, ready to battle again. This time I wasn't as worried, but he was clearly having trouble as it pecked his head as he attempted to slap it away. He managed to grab its foot and give it a good beating like he had done to the nidoran.

I had a few Pokeballs and a great ball left, but I didn't want to use them yet. The battles tired Nightmare out, so we took a break at the Pokemon center as soon as we got the the town. I got a few strange looks for having a drowsey, and probably because of my age. The nurse asked that I put Nightmare in his ball before she treated him, which only took a few seconds since he was still in fighting condition.

As we started to leave some kid challenged us to a battle. It was my first trainer battle, so I hesitated for just a second before giving him a quiet "Fine."

As soon as we walked out I let him know "I'm in a hurry, so just a one-on-one."

"You in that big of a hurry to get beat?" he asked. I didn't like how confident he was, and Nightmare knew it. The psychic type looked up at me as though he was asking _Are you sure about this?_ I responded with a grin and a nod, and he took off in front of me.

"I didn't get your name." the boy told me as he sent out a bulbasaur "I'm John."

"Li."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, sounding somewhat insulted

"Its my name." I told him, getting slightly annoyed "Are we going to talk, or do you want to battle?"

"I was hoping we could do both." he sounded a bit sad that I wasn't trying to be his friend, but I wasn't there to make friends; I was more concerned with visiting Mount Moon. I grinned as I thought of which pokemon to catch.

Nightmare used confusion, an attack that I didn't like using unless we had to. Bulbasaur was lifted several feet into the air. The poor thing moved its legs around as though it was trying to run away, but it was thrown behind its trainer.

"Bulbasaur!" John called for it, clearly surprised. The pokemon stood up, but it wouldn't walk. "Get this thing!" John ordered, but the bulbasaur refused. We won by default, but I didn't like it.

Most trainers would have felt ready to take on the gym leader after something like that, but since I only had one pokemon, I didn't feel confident at the time. Besides, I wanted a real battle.

We went to the pokemart to prepare for what I had in mind. My bag felt light when we first entered since it only had soap, snacks, and clothes. I got a few more snacks, as well as a potion and a full heal. I would have liked to get a few more potions and full heals, but I had to keep some money on me in case of an emergency.

Mount Moon was a long distance away, and it would take us at least a few days to go through, so I decided to wait until the next day to go there.

"I need you to promise me something." I told Nightmare as we went out to train. He looked up at me questioningly. "I was very impressed by that attack you used earlier." I assured him before continuing. He made an adorable noise. A few people turned to look at him, but they didn't seem to like the noises as much as I did. I continued "But I don't want you to use it unless it's an emergency. Do you understand?" Nightmare looked at me like I was being ridiculous "I know it's a powerful attack, but I don't want you to rely on it all the time. You can practice occasionally, just know that you have other talents, alright?"

He made a few more noises and took my hand. I held his hand like he was a young child. People continued to stare.

"Hey you!" someone called out "You haven't changed a bit!"

I looked to my left, not sure who was saying that. Someone was jogging towards me. He looked mad at me, but I didn't recognize him.

"So, you got yourself another drowsey? Aren't you to good for a pokemon like that? You're just going to abandon it like you did that jigglypuff." he looked so enraged, but the calmness in his voice clashed with his expression. His black hair was down to his shoulders and curved around his face, intensifying the curve of his jawline. His dark green eyes seemed to stare right into my soul, but I had no clue what he was talking about.

"How about a battle?" he smirked

I didn't like the way he said it, or the fact that he had probably been training longer than I had, but I wanted to know more about whatever he was saying. "Sure." I said bluntly as Nightmare growled

Apparently the jigglypuff that was abandoned by someone got adopted by him, and eventually evolved into a wigglytuff. It cheered happily as he let it out of the ball, but upon seeing me it became very angry.

"Nightmare, be careful." I told him as he looked back at me, clearly not understanding any more than I did "Something's not right about this."

"You're right about that." the man said as he narrowed his eyes at me "Nightmare was a good hypno. How could you just replace him with a mere drowsey? You even gave him his name." the wigglytuff made a few angry noises in agreement, making things even more difficult for me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to tell them

"Yeah right." the man said, and with a snap of his fingers, the battle began.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

The defeat was humiliating. I rushed Nightmare to the Pokemon center, hoping nothing was fatal. Nurse Joy asked me what happened after stablizing him, so I told her all about the strange man.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" she asked herself

"You mean this has happened before?" I asked

"I don't think so." she said as she looked at Nightmare "But I've heard strange stories." she glanced around as though to make sure no one was around to here what she was saying. "In three weeks and four days head over to Vermilion. Wait for a ship called Hoenn and find a worker named 'Steven'. Tell him a lady he gave water stone to needs him to tell you the story of Ilex Forrest."

"Where's that at?"

"I find know." she told me "And I'm not supposed to. You never heard this from me, or anyone else. Do you understand?" I just nodded

Nightmare was let out of the emergency room shortly after midnight. I didn't plan on getting any sleep, so I washed my clothes. We set out early the next morning, still sour about losing so easily. We were heading towards Mount Moon, eager to catch two more pokemon. I already knew which ones I wanted, so with five pokeballs and a greatball, I was ready to go.

It didn't take long for us to come to a cliff. We would have just gone around it, if some new trainer hadn't jumped off of it. Her clothes were torn and bloody.

"What happened?" I asked as I ran to her.

"They took him!" she was tired and pale, but she still had enough energy to try to stand. "They took my Bulbasaur!" she tried to run towards Cerulian, but she was too weak.

I caught her as she fell. "Who did?" I asked as I helped her walk

"Team Rocket."

People rushed to help her as soon as we got to the city. Officers asked questions while she was given medical treatment. Apparently Team Rocket was in Mount Moon, stealing from new trainers as they passed through. Police were sent to investigate, but I couldn't stop thinking about catching pokemon.

"Who steals pokemon from a new trainer?" I asked myself the next morning

"People who can get away with it." the girl said "By the way, I'm Verde."

I had gotten us a private room so that she could help her as she healed. My pokemon and I slept on the floor and gave the girl the bed. Nightmare had been very helpful, looking after her when I went out to be her something to eat and some new clothes. They were cheap, but at least they weren't torn and bloody. It was a simple tee shirt and a pair of pants. I wanted to get her a backpack, but I had run out of money.

"I'm Li." I told her. Nightmare make more of his noises. "That's Nightmare." I said, assuming he was trying to introduce himself. He made more happy noises.

Verde grinned and looked down at her feet. "I should have given him a name." she said "I just called him Bulbasaur, but I should have named him."

"Was he your only pokemon?" I asked.

She nodded, still not looking at either of us. "Red and Blue got a charmander and a squirtle. Our parents were friends, so they gave us matching names; we were all named after colors. We got starters to match our names. I went on to the Pewter gym, but Blue stayed behind to find Red. Knowing him he went to the pokemon league. I bet they've both caught a few pokemon by now. I hope Team Rocket gets caught before they pass through."

Nightmare took my hand as a look of determination flashed across my face. I looked at him, knowing he was on my side. "Get some rest, Verde." I said as we left the room.

"You're both leaving me?" she asked

"We'll be back." I assured her.

I wanted to go towards Mount Moon, but there was police tape blocking the way, so we went south. Nightmare looked around eagerly, wanting to battle again. It didn't take long for us to find a pidgey. Nightmare ran ahead into battle as a took a pokeball out of my pocket. I pressed the button and waited for the best time to throw it. Nightmare used double slap, the pidgey pecked him, then Nightmare used pound. The wild pokemon kicked sand into his eyes. Nightmare, clearly uncomfortable, backed up and tried to wiped to sand out of his eyes.

"Nightmare, confusion!" I called as the bird tried to fly away. With Nightmare holding it in place, I was able to throw the pokeball at it. I walked slowly to the ball on the ground, expecting the pokemon to escape like I had heard of happening. I picked it up and put it in my back pocket.

"Let's try to find another one." I said as Nightmare started heading back to Cerulian. He made a few irritated noises, but we continued searching. After capturing a nidoran male, we went back to the Pokemon center. Nightmare got Verde while Nurse Joy healed the new pokemon.

"What's the emergency?" Verde rushed down despite the stitches in her legs. Had she not escaped from Team Rocket, she likely would have been killed.

"Your new pokemon." I said proudly

"New pokemon?" she sounded so suprised

" The police haven't found your Bulbasaur yet, so I caught a couple pokemon for you." As though on cue, they both rushed into the room, with the pidgey angrily chasing the nidoran

"You caught them for me?" she asked as Nurse Joy handed the pokeballs to her.

"You can't be a trainer without any pokemon." I told her with a hint of sarcasm

"Li... Thank you." She named the pidgey Daydream and the nidoran Prince.

Nightmare and I snuck out shortly after she fell asleep and headed to Mount Moon. We still had reservations for a few nights, but I thought it was best to let Verde and her pokemon have the room to themselves. She could clearly walk on her own, and since I had already paid for the room Nurse Joy wouldn't kick her out until she had more time to heal. There weren't any police in sight, but the tape was still up.

"Well this is great." I said sarcastically "We'll have to go anyways."

We quickly made our way to the cliff Verde had jumped from. "This looks like an emergency" I said, hoping Nightmare would understand what I was suggesting. He took me by the hand and used his psychic powers to lift us up onto the cliff. There were enough blood drops on the ground for us to find the entrance of the cave. From what I had heard, there were lanterns inside to help trainers see, but apparently they were pretty deep inside the cave since I could hardly see any light inside.

"This is it." I said, shuttering at the thought of finding Team Rocket. I looked at Nightmare "Lets be careful, alright?"

Still holding my hand, he led me into the cave.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three:

It didn't take long for us to get tired. I woke up a few hours later with a pain in my arm. I just grinned, knowing what it was. As the zubat started to fly away, Nightmare used double slap. The zubat used supersonic. We covered our ears as the headache began. I was still uncomfortable when it tried to fly away again, but I didn't hesitate to throw a pokeball at it. The bloodsucking thing broke out, but Nightmare weakened it enough for the next one to work. I ran to the pokeball and put it on my trainer-belt; a special belt that holds pokeballs.

"Finally." I said to myself "Another pokemon. It's exactly what it wanted!"

"Who's there?!" someone called out.

Not knowing weather it was the police or Team Rocket, I ran. We eventually turned into a dead end. My heart raced as whoever it was came towards us. Nightmare stood in front of me, clearly not wanting anything to happen to me. As the man turned the courner, Nightmare growled at him, sensing the danger we were in. He was neither a police officer nor a member of Team Rocket, judging by his appearance. He had short brown hair and was wearing a tux; a strange thing to wear in a cave.

"W-who are you?" I asked, still shuttering in fear

"You're pathetic." that didn't answer my question, but the tone of his voice made it clear that he was not the kind of guy I wanted to be friends with "But your pokemon is worth a pretty penny."

My shuttering slowed down as my fear was replaced with anger. "I'm not going to try to take it from you." the man told me, his voice sounding a little more friendly "I'm here for the same reason you are."

"Just passing through?" I asked with a obvious distrust

"If anybody asks." he nodded as he turned around.

We waited for a while; for what, I'm still not sure. I didn't want to run into that man again, but I had a feeling I had seen him before. "He looked familiar." I told Nightmare "Try to remember him for me, alright?"

Nightmare nodded with a few soft noices as he began to walk again. I don't know how long we walked before we found a grunt, but it had to be more than an hour. It was after we found a latter in a hole. There were two of them, a guy with a black hat and a woman in a uniform similar to his. She was blond, and her soft blue eyes contradicted his harsh green ones, but other than eye color they looked so much alike I assumed they were related. He was yelling at her about something, "Are you trying to get caught!"

That was when she noticed us. The man must have known we were there by nothing more than the look on her face. Without her saying a word, he sent out a zubat as he turned around, not caring who I was or why I was there. Nightmare growled as he stepped forward.

"Stand down, Nightmare!" I commanded as I sent out my new zubat "I know you're still hurt, but just a few hits, alright?"

My zubat tackled the other one, who quickly bit him in return. "Leach life." I said softly to myself, recognizing the attack I had heard about somewhere. My zubat bit back, possibly thinking I was giving an order. The rocket bat tackled my zubat, only to get tackled back. By this point my zubat was almost finished.

"Switch out!" I ordered. Nightmare handled the situation while I used my only potion on my zubat. "From now on, your name is Trance." I told him "Switch out." I said again, knowing Trance could take care of the rest. As soon as the other zubat was defeated, the grunt sent out a rattata.

"This one is a good opportunity for a bloodsucker like you." I said, giving Trance the opportunity to do as he pleased; it wasn't like they were going to tell the cops on me for let my pokemon mutilate his. He put it back in its ball before it fainted.

With him defeated, the lady didn't try to stop us from walking right by them. I didn't say a word; there was nothing to say. Trance sat on my backpack the rest of the way. It was getting colder, but I would have had to take my backpack off to put my jacket on, so I just ignored it. A few hours and about a dozen battles later we found a police officer.

"It's been forever since we saw him, but we battled a member of Team Rocket." I said, catching the officer's attention. He turned to face us. "He was that way," I pointed in the direction we had come in "Do you know how to get out of here?"

"I came from the other direction." the officer told me "If you go that way, you'll reach Pewter eventually. I don't remember exactly how to find the exit; I'm a bit lost my self." he pulled a potion out of his pocket, "You'd better take this."

I didn't say 'no' to a free potion. Instead I nodded and continued my journey through the cave, hoping to find some more pokemon along the way. As I got deeper into the maze, the pokemon became more frequent. Unfortunately, they were all zubat and a few pokemon that looked like bugs with mushrooms on their backs.

I had to take a few breaks along the way. Eventually I decided to stop for the night and let my pokemon feed off of me. Luckily for me they could also feed on each other; with Trance sucking Nightmare's blood and Nightmare eating Trance's dreams. I ate a snacksized bag of chips as Trance fed on Nightmare, knowing that if I ate more than I had to, I might be in trouble later.

I was cold and afraid. There were so many wild pokemon, and the cave was so big and dark. How many people had gone missing in that same cave, never to be seen again? I used my backpack as a pillow, crushing the potato chips. It didn't matter; they were still edible. The thought of the cave getting colder made me consider putting my jacket on, but I checked my phone to see what time it was: about noon.

 _No wonder I'm so tired._ I thought as I closed my eyes.

My legs were sore when I woke up the next morning, but I carried on anyways after eating another bag of chips. I had to make Trance fly for most of the day. I never would have thought I would become so tired so quickly. I had heard of people going through the cave in less then two days. I knew for a fact that we weren't going to manage that.

After what felt like forever Trance flew off ahead of us. "Trance, wait!" I called as we chased after him. He came flying back quickly and grabbed the shoulder on my tank and tried to pull me away. I didn't know what he saw, and I didn't want to, but a scream made me run in that direction, somehow forgetting about the pain in both legs. Another Team Rocket grunt was messing with some one.

"Go for it Trance!" I ordered as the grunt's rattata ran towards us. The little thing was no match for Trance, but the next pokemon was another zubat. Looking back on it, Trance could have handled it himself, but I eventually called him back and send Nightmare out. A pound and couple double slaps later the grunt sent out another rattata. I let Trance take care of it.

The grunt gave me some money in return for not letting my pokemon get a hold of him. The grunt took off and left me and his victim.

"P-please, don't hurt me." he said, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Why would I?" I asked, "I'm not one of them."

The man jumped up happily. "Oh, thank goodness! It's so dark in here, I can hardly see a thing. I'm Bill, a scientist. That grunt was trying to steal my pokemon, only I don't have any. Whoever that Team Rocket guy was didn't like that, and decided to give me the beat down for it. I came here to find a Cliffary."

"You too?" I asked even though I wasn't suprised. Plenty of trainers tried to find the cute things, but they're about as rare as a moonstone.

"Do you remember how to get out of this cave?" he asked. I shook my head 'no' and he offered "Then let me show you, if you want to go in that direction. I'm heading back to Cerulian."

I figured it would be best to go back with him, partially because he was helpless and hurt, and partially because I just wanted out of that blasted cave. We had to stop for the night on our way back to Cerulian, but at least we weren't in that cave anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

"Did you see Team Rocket?"

"Did you catch that zubat in the cave?"

"Is Team Rocket looking for cliffary?"

Those were just the questions I remember hearing in the chaos when I entered the city. News reporters crowded around me, eager to hear every detail from the woman who snuck past the police tape. Luckily for me Bill stayed behind to tell his side of the story while the police took me in for questioning. After they took my pokemon due to standard procedure, I told them about the grunts I saw and about the police officer who have me a potion.

"We'll call the Pewer police and ask about that." the interrogator said harshly. Appearently that side of the cave was not only still letting people through, but they were giving rewards to anyone who helped them catch a member of Team Rocket.

"You can't discriminate against people on one side of the cave when there are grunts on both sides." I said "Either you have to lift the tape, or the other side has to be blocked off." I sat in a holding cell while the officers argued for half an hour over the phone over what the best coarse of action was. Eventually they lifted the tape, then they let me out.

I would have preferred staying in jail overnight rather than dealing with those news reporters crowding around me. At least I got my pokemon back, and they were glad to get to the Pokemon center. We had one more night reserved in the private room, so the Pokemon did their best to sleep while I answered Verde's questions.

"Did you see Team Rocket?"

"Yep."

"Did you battle any of them?"

"Yep, two of them."

"And you won?"

"Apparently."

"Why did you go there?"

"I felt like it."

"But there was police tape." I grinned at what she said; she reminded me of myself at her age

"I do whatever I want."

"Even if you get in trouble for it?"

"Yes."

"Do you get trouble a lot?"

"No."

"Were you scared?"

I paused for a moment to think of the best way to answer that question. If I told her I was, then she would know that I was. If I told her I wasn't, then I would be lying and lying's not my style. So I just let her know "There are two kinds of fear. There's the kind that holds you back and dictates how you live your life. Then there's the kind that pushes you into doing something you didn't think you could, or that you just didn't want to do. That kind is the rarest, and it makes you stronger. I felt both kinds of fear in that cave."

"What's the difference between them? How do I know which is which?"

"You'll know when you feel them."

"I've felt one kind of fear." she said "What does the other kind feel like?"

"You'll know it when you feel it." I didn't even try to hide the hint of irritation in my voice.

"I'm bothering you, aren't I?"

"Yep." I answered without thinking

We didn't say anything else that night. She followed me downstairs the next morning without saying a thing. "Have you been been training?" I asked as we headed out

"There wasn't anyone to train with." she said sadly "Everybody wanted to challenge the gym, and I didn't feel like walking all the way to the bridge."

I remembered seeing a few battles on the bridge and assumed it was a popular training place "You have two pokemon." I reminded her, "You could have let them battle each other."

"Oh." was her only response

"So where are you going to now?" I asked

"I don't know." she said. She was starting to sound more casual, but there was still some sorrow in her voice

"Well, I have plans." I let her know

"What kind of plans?" she asked, sounding more joyful

"Hanging out in the big city for a while then go see someone come off a ship in Vermilion.

"That sounds nice. What are you doing next?"

"I don't know." I told her "I haven't planned that far yet. I'll probably go see my mom, show her my pokemon. Maybe head down to Pallet and checkout the lab."

"I used to live in Pallet." she said "I bet my mom would love to see me and my pokemon."

"She probably would."

"Well, I'd best be on my way." she said as she waved good bye "I guess I'll find someone to train with until Team Rocket is gone. The last thing I need is to lose my new pokemon. Maybe they'll get caught and I'll get my bulbasaur back."

"Good luck." I said as Nightmare and I started to walk away. We took a few steps before I looked back and called out "Hey Verde, you want to hang out with us for a while?"

"Seriously?" she asked as she looked at us

"There's power in numbers." I reminded her "I'm not going far, and I'm planning on heading towards Pallet anyway when I'm done with waiting for the ship. That's still I while away. Maybe we'll hear something about your bulbasaur by then."

She hesitated for a second as though to think about it before screaming "Thank you!"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

I had planned on going to Saffron, but we ended up staying in Cerulian City for about two weeks, taking advantage of the free rooms at the center and letting Verde train with people who were passing by or, to a larger extent, challenging the gym. She got it into her head on the fourth day to challenge the gym, but we didn't make it to the leader. I wanted to wait until I felt Trance could handle it, or until I got another pokemon since Nightmare couldn't swim and using confusion wouldn't be fair. Verde insisted that I let him do it, but I didn't listen to her.

On the ninth day I took her to see the mall in Saffron City. We stopped by the daycare on our way there to drop off Nightmare and Daydream. The old man got a kick out of their names. I gave her the grand tour of the mall and introduced her to my friends, and got her an over-priced backpack. It matched the pink leaf on her shirt and it has green accent. If it weren't for that I wouldn't have gotten it for her.

Someone suggested that we go see my landlord and challenge him to a battle. I don't know who's idea that was, but it turned out to be very interesting, even though we didn't get to battle him. He was renovating a place next to the gym.

"You're turning this place into a gym?" Verde asked

"I've already said it once." my manager reminded her

"But isn't there a gym right next door."

"Not that kind of gym." he told her

"You mean they use a different type of pokemon?"

"I think he means the kind you work out in, not the kind you battle in." I explained to her

"Actually, you're both wrong. It's for Pokemon, but there's no badge."

"Then what's the point in going?" Verde asked

"To get stronger." I said casually

"Exactly." my old landlord stated

"Any idea when it will open?" I asked

"Soon." he assured us "Meanwhile, why don't you two trainers go challenge the gym just south of here?"

"I don't think we're ready for that." Verde said, almost laughing at herself

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to pay them a visit though." I told her

"Really?" she asked

"Not today, we told the daycare we would pick up our pokemon later today and it's already getting late. I suggest we challenge ourselves sometime and try to defeat a few of the gym trainers. It would be a good opportunity to train our pokemon."

"I guess." Verde said

"By seeing what type they use before challenging their leader, we'll be able to plan for it. That will give us an advantage."

"I guess." Verde repeated herself, sounding a little more confident "But isn't it kind of weird to go into one gym when you haven't finished the last one yet? Shouldn't we focus on one thing at a time?"

I grinned at how much she sounded like a little me "Not if you know what you're doing."

"Well then it's a good thing you do, because I certainly don't."

I just laughed as I walked off to find something more interesting.

"Where are you going?" Verde asked

"Do you see anything to do around here?" she looked around and I continued "There's something I want to show you." she followed as I lead her to a tunnle "A lot of hard core trainers hang out down there." I told her as we looked at the staircase "After you get your third badge, it may be safe to take you down."

"Yeah," she said, "let's wait until then."

We left right away. There was no point in sticking around to get our butts kicked by guys twice her age, so I took her to a safer place to train, not far from there. She found another trainer to battle and just barely won. I used the potion the police officer gave me back at Mount Moon and we rushed to the Pokemon center. Trance didn't really need treatment for anything, so I called my mom while Verde handled in her nidoran, Prince.

"Oh, hello Lolita." my mom didn't sound over-the-top happy to hear me after three weeks of nothing like some mothers would have "How are you?"

"I'm a trainer."

"Oh, that's right, you caught a pokemon. You never did send me any pictures."

"You don't want any." I didn't like saying it, but it was the truth

"Knowing you, I probably don't." she agreed

"Have you seen the news?" I asked

"You mean about Team Rocket being in Mount Moon? I told you it was a good thing we moved here."

"That was ten years ago." I reminded her "Do you remember any names?"

"I thought I heard yours, but I know it wasn't you. You're a responsible adult, and you were probably working while all of this was going on, weren't you?"

"No." I said as I hung up on her.

"Who was that?" Verde asked

"My mother." I told her "She's not the kind of person who you can talk sence into."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's probably best we pass through Veridian and not stop for a visit."

"That's mean!" she told me, putting her hands on her hips

"You don't know her like I do." I reminded her "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." she said casually.

I didn't tell her about him, but I kept thinking about the guy I met in the cave. Why was it that thinking of Veridian City reminded me of him?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

"Go, Prince!" it was after our two weeks in Cerulian that we finally made out way to Vermilion to challenge some gym trainers.

"Cute pokemon." the first one said "Who's your friend?"

"She's my sister." Verde told him. I smiled at the fact that she had adopted me as her older sister. We had agreed to never tell anyone otherwise. I didn't understand what she was up to back then. If I had only known.

The man sent out a magnamite. In all honesty, it was cuter than he was. This guy would best be described as bulky; the kind of guy who looked like he spent more time training himself than he did his pokemon.

"Tackle attack." I stop smiling when I heard that. The blasted magnamite was basically a ball of metal, she should have known the attack would do more damage to her pokemon than it did to the opponent's. "It didn't work."

"If course it didn't. Look at what your fighting." She looked back at me as if she was expecting advice. "Pay attention!" I told her as Prince dodged a thundershock. "You're opponent is made up of metal. Would you tackle a car?"

"Of cause not." she was clearly upset with herself "What do I do?"

"It's your battle." I reminded her "I can't fight your battles for you." I understood what she was feeling; I would have been nervous at her age.

"It's hopeless." she said

"No it's not." I assured her

"Yes it is." the gym trainer told her, showing no mercy on her. Had Verde not been my adopted sister I would have admired the way he was acting "Thundershock!"

"Dodge!" Verde commanded instinctively. Her nidoran jumped out of the way again, following her commands

"See, you're still in control." I told her "Now think. What other moved can Prince use?"

"Growl?" Verde said, moaning in agony after her pokemon growled

"That was pathetic." the man told her "One thundershock should do the trick."

"Dodge!" Prince was closer to getting hit that time. He shook his head, a sign that he didn't like what just happened "Double kick."

I smiled as I watched the move do damage to the magnamite. "What other moved does he know?" I asked

"Poisen sting." Verde said, and it worked; the magnamite turned purple at the sight of impact, a sign that it was now poisoned. The magnamite used thundershock again, only for the move to be dodged again. At this point it was clear to all of us that those shocks just were not going to hit.

"Tackle!" the gym trainer ordered. It hit, but it was too late. A couple tackles afterward and the match was over. We we're told that we would get more pride money if we defeated the gym leader. Verde confirmed it, claiming that she was surprised how much she won when she defeated Brock.

"You defeated Brock?" the gym trainer asked "Judging by the way you were acting, I'd say you had never battled before."

"Yeah, my Bulbasaur was a lot more confident than I was. But Team Rocket took him, along with everything else while I was passing through Mount Moon."

"That was you? No wonder you're so scared of everything!" he looked up at me and said "You take good care of your sister for me."

"I will." I assured him before we left. I thought of the Rocket grunt who gave me everything he had on him just so I wouldn't let my pokemon hurt him. I wouldn't have let them do it anyways, but that wasn't the point. I pushed it out of my mind.

We headed to the Pokemon center, proud of Verde's victorty. We stayed there overnight since it was getting so late. Verde fell asleep rather quickly, but I let my mind wonder. What was it like to be part of Team Rocket? To be unwanted by society, with only the police and people wanting rewards looking for you? To have bosses who yell at you like that? If they were to kill you, who would ever know?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

We hung out around there until the ship came in. Nightmare was in his ball to help us not attract attention. It was late, eleven something. Verde was almost asleep, and even though I didn't admit it, I was tempted to go back to the Pokemon center and just forget about it. There was only one man who came out. We followed him to the Pokemon fan club and waited for him to come out.

"Wait here." I told Verde before walking to the door. It was taking to long. He was sitting at a table looking at some papers. Everybody looked at me with shocked, frightened faces. I ignored them and walked up to the guy. He was a heavyset man in a stereotypical sailor suit. "Are you Steven?"

"So what if I am?" he asked, no kindness in his tone

"The woman you gave the water stone to needs you to tell me the story of Ilex Forrest." I said casually, although I would have liked to return the tone of voice he had been using with me.

"We'll have to reschedule this." Steven said as he stood up

"But the next boat won't be back for weeks!" someone said as though it was something that could stop a war. I should have known.

"Come with me." Steven said.

I followed him to the boat. "This better not take long." he said "I'm not supposed to bring anyone else. You can't tell anyone about this. What am I saying; of course you won't. You're one of us!"

That didn't make me feel any better. I thought we were just going to walk into the boat, but instead he sent out a few poliwrath. They swam to a place to our left. It was hard to see, but there was a truck with some crates. The boat was sitting in front of it, making it easier for them to load the crates onto the boat.

"See that truck over there?" Steven asked as he pointed to it "The S.S. Anne left earlier today. We were hoping no one would say anything. The goods are in those crates. Getting out of here is the easy part. It's getting them into the Hoenn region without getting caught that we got to worry about. The last thing we need right now is Magma and Aqua getting their hands on this stuff."

I just nodded, but deep down, I was worried about getting out alive. The war between Johto and Kanto was still going on, but from what I understood, Hoenn was giving both of them a hard time. If they found out I wasn't part of whatever they were up to, I was dead, or worse. And with the S.S. Anna being a popular ship, there was a chance someone was on their way to investigate. The last thing I needed was to get caught with a terrorist while he was smuggling something to enemy territory, especially after sneaking past those police lines while Team Rocket was in that cave. Oh the conspiracies that could have arose from all that.

"So what's the story?" I asked, trying to sound like this was a normal thing for me

"What's the rush?" he ask "Why not come on board for a while? Have a cup of coffee?"

"I have things I need to do." It wasn't a lie, I really needed to find Verde before someone else did. I was trying not to think of how many things were just not right about this. I couldn't tell her, every question would lead to another and eventually I would have to tell her about the nurse. I couldn't believe a nurse could be part of a terrorist organization. Had I not been in shock I would have panicked.

"The truth is, I don't know that story." he admitted "I'm not the real Steven."

"Then who are you?!"

"Keep it down, are you trying to get caught?" my mind flashed back to the two Team Rocket grunts I saw in Mount Moon "Things have been hard lately. You know how hard it is to sneak past security. Well, maybe you don't. I don't know what your position is, but all that matters is that we get this stuff to Hoenn before war breaks out again."

That was a surprise to me; I didn't know the war with Hoenn had ended. Appearently news was a little different on our end. "Any idea who would know the story? From what I understand, it's pretty important."

"The real Steven probably would, but there's no telling who he is, or if he's even real."

"So this is a dead end then? You don't have any higher up I can question about this?"

"All I can tell you is to go back to the water stone, wherever he's at."

"Great." I said sarcasticly.

As soon as the ship left I went to find Verde. She was still sleeping peacefully where I left her, but I had to wake her up.

"Back already?" she asked as she rubbed her green eyes.

"Stand up. Run! We have go now." I looked around frantically to make sure no one had followed me

"What's wrong?" she asked as she stood up. I ran. I couldn't stop, I just ran. I looked back every few steps to make sure she was still there and that no one was following us. With every step it sunk in more and more; the man from enemy lines, the nurse, the truck- it had all been planned. Who knew how many people were in on it.

I stopped. I just stopped. Verde ran into me. We both fell, but it took a minute for me to notice it. Someone knew. Someone had to. There was no way Nurse Joy would tell me that then not make sure someone stopped me from spilling. I was in danger. I had put Verde in danger. Surely they were expecting us to go to the cops-that's where anyone would go!

We had to get out of town, so before I could even think about it, we ran the other way. I didn't know where we were going and I didn't care, I just had to get us away from everything. We ran all the way back to Saffron. Verde couldn't go any farther, but I couldn't stop. My legs were sore and weak, but the adrenaline rush gave me enough strength to piggyback her through the passage on west side of the city. There was a small town called Lavender where I finally lost my strength and passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

While we were there, Prince learned peck and replaced that silly growl. We volunteered a lot at this place where pokemon were often abandoned. We stayed at the pokemon center, so apparently the nurse there wasn't a part of what I had seen back in Vermilion. It took me a couple days to get my thoughts sorted out, but we eventually agreed to head towards Pallet Town and challenge the gym in Pewter so that we could get a Stone Badge.

I talked Verde into going through the cave just north of us since a lot of trainers were coming from there. I figured it would be a good opportunity to train, but my main reason for taking the cave route was that I didn't like the idea of being in Saffron, right between Cerulian and Vermilion, after what happened. I planned on going through the cave, hopefully running into a few trainers to collect prize money, and stop by the Pokemart in Cerulian City just long enough to grab a few potions and some pokeballs.

We visited the pokemart in Lavender to get some more snacks and a flashlight before heading out. The cave was dark, but the flashlight and Nightmare being out made me feel more comfortable. Verde sent out Prince, just in case she needed him. Good thing she did, because it wasn't long before a flock of zubat came at us, at least six of them. We sent out our other pokemon to fight with them.

"Maybe I should switch pokemon." Verde said when it was over "Prince can't fly, so battling zubat is hard for him."

"Good idea." I told her as I made Nightmare get into his ball and sent out Trance. Nightmare didn't argue with me. Verde called back Prince and let out Daydream as we continued down the cave.

Despite us being in a cave, a large gust of wind came through just afterwards.

"There must be an intense battle going on somewhere in this cave." I said to myself

"Lets hope we don't run into those trainers." Verde told me as she ran her fingers through her long black hair. "I should have packed a brush."

"It it just me, or is it getting colder in this cave?" she asked about half an hour later.

"I'll have to get you a jacket." I told her

"Is someone there?!" we heard a trainer call out

"Blue?!" Verde called out for him

"Where are you?!" he asked "Is that you, with the flashlight?!"

"Yes, we're over here!" Verde told him

It didn't take long for her friend to run up to us. He had an odd look on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked

"Red!" he said "That twisted suck-up! He killed my raticate!"

"Red may be impulsive, but he could never do that on purpose." Verde told him

"Accident or not, I'm heading to the Pokemon Tower." Blue pulled a pokeball out of his pocket "By the time I got to the Pokemon center, there was nothing Nurse Joy could do. I have to bury him now. My first pokemon to ever evolve, and I have to bury him already. This is all Red's fault!"

"We'll help you find your way to Lavender town, won't we Li?"

"Of course." I assured Verde

"I don't need your help." Blue told us as he started to cry "I just need to be left alone."

"The sooner you get out of this cave, the sooner you can get this funeral over with." I reminded him

He nodded and followed us back to Lavender Town. We took Blue straight to the Pokemon center before escourting him to the Pokemon Tower. He didn't want us to stay long, so we had to respect his wishes and leave. I don't know how long he stayed there, but to this day Blue still visits the Tower every year to talk to his Raticate.

The was something strange that caught my attention, but I didn't question it. As we were leaving, Blue told Verde he would keep her secret, and that there was a suprise waiting for her in Pallet Town. I assumed the surprise was just something her mother had for her, and what kind of a secret could Verde be hiding? It didn't think much of it.

We went back to the cave. I wanted to get Verde a jacket first, but she insisted that we get going, so I let her borrow mine. We still had Trance and Daydream out of their balls, so we felt like we were ready for anything.

I saw my first geodude just minutes after entering. Verde sent Prince out to handle it since it couldn't fly. Prince used double kick and got tackled, but a quick peck to the forehead knocked it out.

Up next was a mankey, another first for me. I let Trance handle this one. He started with a wing attack, which did more than I thought it would. The mankey fell backwards, but it quickly got up, ready for more. I grinned at it, admiring its will to fight. I thought about catching it, but I didn't want to waste a pokeball on something that might become a nuisance later on.

The wild pokemon attempted to double kick Trance, but the attack missed. Trance did another wing attack, soaring up to the ceiling before coming down hard on the mankey. I thought for sure that would be the end of that battle, but the mankey struggled to get on its feet. It managed to do a karate chop, but a leach life took it down.

"That thing was tough." Verde commented

"And stubborn."

"Are you going to catch it?"

"No." I told her

"Why not?"

"Too annoying." I looked at her face "You want it, don't you?"

She nodded, so I handed her a pokeball. It didn't break out, no surprise there. She named it Fluffy. Now all I had left ballwise was a great ball.

The next pokemon we ran into was a zubat. I don't remember what attacks were used, but I remember a light shining, probably lighting up the entire cave. Verde and I put our arms over our eyes to protect them.

"What's going on?" she asked

"How should I know?"

When we opened our eyes, we saw a golbat flying around us. The wild zubat was on the cave floor. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened; Trance had evolved.

For most trainers, seeing their pokemon evolve for the first time would have been a cause for celebration, but I thought about what Blue said. He had to bury his first pokemon to ever evolve for him. For any trainer to have to bury their pet, it would be difficult, but for someone so young, with so many dreams in front of them, to have bury a pokemon after seeing it evolve; I pushed the idea out of my mind.

I rubbed Trance's head, something he had become used to since I caught him. He flew around the cave with energy I wasn't used to seeing in him.

"Trance sure does have a lot more energy now." Verde eventually noticed

"He's just exited." I assured her

We ran into a few more pokemon before Daydream evolved into a pidgeotto. We were up against another geodude, and it's rock throw was super-effective. Wing attack, peck, and tackle had little effect, and you can't win a match by using sand attack.

"Should I call him back?" Verde asked as her Pokemon stuggled

"It's your battle." I told her

"Wing attack." she ordered "Peck!" just as the peck made contact, the same light we saw not even an hour before was emitted from the small bird. "This is so cool!" Verde said to herself as her Pokemon evolved. The pidgeotto made a few noises before Verde commanded "Wing attack!"

The attack was much stronger than before, defeating the geodude.

We had about ten more battles before we found a latter in a hole. I went down first, remembering the Rocket grunts I battles in a similar location. There were a few trainers down there to battle, so we figured it couldn't hurt. We used Nightmare and Prince as much as we could, only using Daydream and Trance when we needed someone who could fly.

I didn't tell Verde because I didn't want her to get her hopes up, but I knew it wouldn't take long before Prince evolved too. But Nightmare was another story. He had been training longer than any of them, so shouldn't be have been the first one to evolve?

I was starting to assume that he was just one of those pokemon who couldn't. I didn't have a problem with that. I personally didn't care if none of my pokemon evolved, so long as they were obedient.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

After finishing them off, we split the prize money and started on our journey again. We ran into way to many pokemon on our way out of the cave, and words cannot express how happy we were to see a pokemon center upon getting out of the cave. We had a few snacks while Nurse Joy was healing our pokemon.

"Hey Li?" Verde asked "I know the sun is just starting to go down, but do you mind if we spend the night here?"

"Not at all." I told her "It's not healthy to push yourself every day."

"It's not?"

"Nope."

"Good." she said "Then let's stay around he tomorrow and do some easy training."

"That sounds great. It will give you some time to bond with your new pokemon."

"And if you get bored?"

"There are plenty of trainers passing through." I assured her "I'll find someone else to train with if I feel the need to."

"So what are we doing after that?"

"How we head to Cerulian and pick up some pokeballs, then head over to Mount Moon and look for cliffary?"

"I would love a cliffary!" she told me excitedly

"Then that's what we'll do." I told her "Then how about we head over to Pewter and challenge the gym?"

"I already did that once." she reminded me "Going back would look weird."

"Just tell them Team Rocket took your badge. If a twenty year old can challenge Brock, then so can someone who already beat him once."

"But back then I had a bulbasaur. I had an advantage."

"And now you have a mankey and a nidoran." I reminded her "And they're both stronger than your bulbasaur was."

"And you're going to challenge him too?"

"Of course." I assured her

"Then you can go first." she said "I'll take him on the next day."

"Good idea." I told her "I'll take on the gym trainers in the morning. That way you can watch to see what pokemon they use. Then we'll have lunch and go back in the afternoon."

"So I can battle the gym trainers?" she asked sadly

"While I battle Brock." I confirmed

"And after that?"

"How about we take the rest of the day off for you to relax before your big match?"

"Sounds good to me." she said

The next day we stuck to our plan, with Verde relaxing with her Pokemon while I battled with trainers who were passing through. I came in around noon to heal my pokemon and get a bite to eat.

"You sure have been doing a lot of training." Nurse Joy told me "Some of the trainers who come here think they're all that just because they have two badges. I think some competition is exactly what we need around here. I think a challenge similar to the Pokemon League would be a good opportunity to see who's who."

Verde and I liked the idea of a competition, so we agreed with Nurse Joy that three days would be long enough for more trainers to make their way to us. Unfortunately, the rules stated that trainers had to have at least one badge. There was to be two separate competitions; one for beginners, and one for trainers who had more experience. A trainer's experience was determined by the number of badges they've earned, and to get into the beginner's competition, we had to have one badge.

I didn't like it much, but I'd had plenty of time to get over my little scare back in Vermilion, so I decided to face my fears and ask a few questions. And so, we began our journey back to Cerulian City.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Route Nine is filled with pokemon and trainers. The first pokemon we ran into was a raticate, and Verde handled that one. She send out Fluffy, but she had to call her new mankey back and send Prince in to handle it. We set out early that morning, so the details are a blur. But I remember Prince evolved after that battle. We went back to the Pokemon center and headed out again.

We defeated a few trainers down that route and told them about the competition and the low fee, making sure to mention that the winner got half of the collection. Thankfully most of them had two badges already, so we wouldn't have to feel bad about beating them again. The walk took over two hours, so the first thing we did when we got to Cerulian was to head over to the Pokemon center.

"How did it go?" Nurse Joy asked me. I knew what she was talking about.

"Not well." I informed her "Any idea what happened to that water stone?"

"Last I heard, some guy just north of here bought it. It shouldn't be hard to find his house, since it's the only one in the area."

With that said, she took our pokemon to get healed.

Verde and I sat on a bench and enjoyed some food the center was offering to trainers. The food distracted me from the fact that the same nurse who took my pokemon was the one who told me to find Steven. Verde ask what our plans were for the day.

"I have a lot to do." I told her "You may want to hang out here for a while after we challenge the gym."

"What for?" she ask

"A lot of trainers are going to be coming in." I explained, "This is a good opportunity to train your mankey. And they need to know about the competition."

"So you want me to stay here and tell people about it?"

I nodded "I'm heading north. There will be a lot of trainers there; ones who will want to battle. I'll tell them about the competition, and it will be the biggest one we've ever seen."

"Why are you really going there?"

"I'm looking for a house." I told her, not wanting her to know what was going on "I need to ask a few questions to whoever lives there?"

"About that stone?" she asked, thinking the nurse was talking about a literal stone "What's so great about a rock?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"Maybe I _should_ stay here."

"Your pokemon are ready, Li and Verde!" Nurse Joy sang out, sounding way to joyful "How confident do you girls feel about the gym?" she asked as we took our pokemon.

"None of them are water types, but I think we'll be okay." Verde told her

"If you want to borrow a fishing pole, I would be glad to lend it to you." the nurse offered

"Really?" Verde asked

"As long as you bring it back." Nurse Joy told us "There's plenty of water to fish in just north of here. And by the way, the man you're looking for is named 'Bill'."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon

Chapter 11

As I had expected, trainers had wanted to battle. I was starting to suspect that the hoard of trainers so close to this lonely house was no coincidence. Our pokemon were tired from all of the battles, and I was starting to worry that they would be too tired for the competition. Then again, if we didn't get that badge, we wouldn't be able to complete.

We had just gotten to the house, and I was already looking out the window, watching Verde fishing innocently. She had her pokemon out enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Nightmare was inside with me. I kept Trance in his pokeball. He wasn't really a sunshine kind of creature, so I usually only let him out at night and in caves.

"Alright." I looked at the scientist from the cave, regretting nothing "I need to know about the water stone."

"Yes, Nurse Joy called and told me that you would be here." That explained why he wasn't surprised to see me again. "You see, before the war began, there was a study involving Pokémon evolution. But when the PokeWorld War started the team was split up, and the project supposedly ended."

"But you and some others have been secretly working on it." I assumed correctly

He nodded his head. "We've been studying everything we could and trying to pull every sting we find, but this war isn't ending yet and we still don't understand the connection between the stones and evolution."

"I've heard of those stones." I admitted "They cost a lot, but if they can really make a Pokémon evolve, then I can see why." But I could tell he was avoiding the answers I was looking for. "So what happened in Ilex Forest? I heard it was quite a story."

"Something about a Pokémon living in a tree if I remember correctly." Bill seemed honest "I never heard the whole story. Although, if you could find Steven, he could probably tell you. He's the only one I know of who could know the whole story."

"I heard Steven may not even be real." At this point I was almost ready to call this whole thing a lame, elaborate prank and act like it never happened.

"Some of the parties involved have taken on his name to make it look like he's just a legend." Bill told me "He's real- I've seen him. His father owns some big rock company in another region, or something like that."

"Or something like that?" I questioned "How many times have you met him, and if people are taking his name, then how do you it was the real Steven!?"

"I met him before the war started." Bill seemed to be getting defensive "But everything we did was on a need to know basis. Most of us hardly had any idea what we were doing. I don't even remember for sure what region he was from. But if you can beat the Pokemon League and become the new champion, then you should have access to whatever you need to know." He paused for a moment to think about something. "Unless the files have been deleted. But someone there should know something."

"So all I have to do is either defeat the Pokemon League or get someone in it to start talking?" I rolled my eyes to add to the already obvious sarcasm "Would you an articuno with that?"

"That's all I know." Bill assured me "But someone else may know something. I'll ask around, but in the meantime, you'd best start collecting badges."

"Yeah." I agreed as I finally headed out "I'll have to go with that plan until I can think of something else."

Verde looked around at me as soon as she heard my voice. "What's up?"

"It turns out the water stone was more than just a rock after all." I still couldn't tell her what was going on. It was bad enough that I had gotten my own feet wet, and I needed to get her out of the way before she could see me get my hands dirty. I felt like I was in too deep to just walk away.

"So what's the plan?" she asked. Nightmare sat down next to her.

I sighed. "The same plan we had before we got here: get that badge, join the competition, go back to Pewter and get the Stone Badge then go back to the Laboratory in Pallet and see your mother."

Verde looked at the water. I could tell something was bothering her as soon as I brought up Pallet Town.

"What's wrong?"

"I haven't caught anything."

"Fishing takes patience." I agreed with her "And patience is something we don't have a lot of time for right now." She looked up at me as if she was asking a question, but I wasn't sure exactly what she wanted. "Do you want to keep fishing, or do you want to earn that badge and win that competition?"

"None of our pokemon are water types." she reminded me "How are we going to win if we can't even battle?"

I grinned. I already had it all planned out, and there was no way we could lose. I didn't like having to stoop to that level, but time was running out and if it works, then it works.

"Cheap tricks."


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

"You're never going to get anywhere on your own." the gym leaders' little sister said as she handed over the badge. There was something satisfying about seeing my sister beat theirs using my precious Nightmare after watching him defeat all three of the older sisters for me.

"Like, we told you she was too strong." I could tell these weren't the kind of sisters who let you barrow their lipstick.

"Yeah, that psychic type is way too much, even for us." Their voices were so annoying.

"Even my staryu couldn't handle it, and she knows psychic moves too."

"You can't depend on your big sister to solve all of your problems for you." At least the redhead seemed reasonable- she actually gave a decent battle. "One of these days you're going to have to fight your own battles."

"Trading isn't against the rules." Verde reminded her. Her tone changed as soon as we walked out of the gym. "Do I depend on you too much?"

"No. All they know is what they saw. You're a good trainer, and part of being a good trainer is knowing how to make the most of your time." I explained to her as we headed back to the Pokemon Center to undo the trade. "We were running out of time, so we did what was necessary at the moment."

"If I had a strong water pokemon, we wouldn't have had to do that."

"Now we know what we need." I agreed with her "So as soon as the competition is over, let's get a few water types."

"Do you think we're going to win?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt.

"We have a good chance." I wasn't going to lie, we weren't exactly in the best of shape yet. Our pokemon were probably going to be exhausted by the time we got there and I wasn't entirely sure is I could stay awake through it, if we even made it in time. But if we made it in time with enough energy, we would probably win.

"I wish I had trained Fluffy more." she admitted "He's not ready yet."

An idea came to mind. "Then why don't we make a short detour and drop him off at the daycare? They can train him while we compete. Then we can just pick him back up on our way to Pewter."

"That's going to take some time." Verde reminded me as we neared the center "Do you want to drop one off too?"

"Trance doesn't like the sunshine much, so I don't see any reason to take him. Most of the competitors are going to be around your age, so most of the battles will probably take place during the day."

Since we were already there, we went ahead and got our pokemon checked up on. I trusted this nurse now, since I had a better understanding of what was going on. Still, I wasn't convinced that a bunch of rocks was still the focus of whatever was going on, but at least she wasn't likely to turn her back on her region, was she?

Verde was sitting on a comfy couch while I turned in our pokemon and undid the trade. "I don't suppose you've heard anything about the water stone?"

"I heard the Pokemon League has been keeping a tight watch on them lately."

"I guess I'll just have to add 'defeat the Pokemon League' to my to-do list."

I turned away and sat next to Verde. She was watching tv- it was supposedly the latest on the war. I half trusted what they were saying, hoping that I wouldn't get stuck with a front row seat to the show.

While we were waiting for them to finish their checkup, Nurse Joy gave me a small notebook. "Your story is unique." she said softly "You may want to write everything down- you may need to share it one day."

I took it as a 'if you body ever goes missing, maybe someone could still get ahold of your diary' and followed her advice. So if you're reading this, chances are that I'm dead. Ether that or someone stole it.

Once we had our own pokemon back in our legal possession we dropped off Trance and Fluffy. Luckily there wasn't any problem with leaving them there for a few days. We decided to go ahead and grab a few more pokeballs and stuff when we got back into town.

I think I made a mistake.

Verde had asked if I would mind if she sat outside while I grabbed them. I thought about it, and quickly decided that her legs needed a break. Mine were tired too, but we needed that competition if we were going to get stronger. The sun was going down when I came back out, and apparently the crooks were out early. I recognized the two grunts I had seen in the cave of Mount Moon. Verde had her eyes closed, and those two were too close to her.

"Verde," I said casually. They looked at me and ran. I continued as though nothing was wrong. "are you ready?"

I gave her a bag of stuff and she put her share into her perfectly organized backpack. I should have went to the police, but I didn't want to scare Verde. I guess I still felt guilty about whatever I was trying to find out. I didn't know what I was getting into, but I was pretty sure it was a one way road. I needed to get her out of this mess, so I had made my mind up right after my conversation with Bill: Verde couldn't come me.

I was going to take her to Pallet, give her some time to talk with her mother, then walk away and never go back. By the time she was done talking to her mother and probably getting a snack, I would be long gone.


End file.
